Dear SWFS Members
Welcome to the July edition of SWFS News.
As ever it’s been a busy six months for the wildlife forensics community so there’s lots to catch up on. Please have a good read and share the news widely.
The lack of major international meetings since January has meant a little less talk and a bit more action for many of us. That said, SWFS had very strong representation at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences meeting this year and other meetings this year (see pages 25 and 30).
As you will remember the SWFS board had a vacancy to fill at the start of the year. The appointment process was concluded in April and it gives me great pleasure to welcome Prof Daniel Xu, from China’s Northeast Forestry University in Harbin, to join the team. Daniel has a long history of national and international wildlife forensics involvement and his broad experience and enthusiasm will be of great benefit to the Society as we continue to grow. You can read more about Daniel in his interview on page 21.
Global efforts tto combat illegal wildlife trade are increasingly turning towards the forensic science community to play a role in supporting law enforcement, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia. Significant funding from the US, UK and EU has seen projects starting in 2018 that are set to spread the development of wildlife forensic capacity and directly support investigations over the coming years (see articles on pages 5, 17 and 19).
As part of these international efforts, the Society is continuing to develop strategic links with inter-governmental community, in our role as the lead advisory body for wildlife forensic science.
With less than a year to Denver 2019, we’re also starting to gear up for another great SWFS meeting. If you haven’t done so already, make sure you get it into your travel budgets and look out for announcements on the website.
Enjoy your northern summer or southern winter!
Regards
Rob Ogden